A new life
by S.H.A.Z-123
Summary: It's the eve of Ron and Hermione's wedding but things don't go according to plan and can things get more any more complicated? Yes, yes they can!
1. Chapter 1

The night was just drawing to a close and Hermione sighed quietly to herself. Whispering the muffliato charm so she wouldn't wake Ginny, who was asleep in the bed next to hers, she crept out of bed and put on a pair of jeans and a warm jumper. Frustration and sorrow were easy to read on her face as she picked up the already packed suitcase and made her way towards the door. As she opened the door she heard Ginny whisper Harry's name in her sleep. A pang of guilt cursed through her as she took one last fleeting look at her. A quick glance at her watch told her she still had time so she made her way back into the room and sat down at the desk. Thankfully the hotel had paper, so picking up a piece she started to write. This was it. This would be her only chance to tell her side of the story so it had to be good.

Dear Ron,

I am so sorry for what I am about to do. It hurts me so much because I do love you, no matter how much you hate me I did love you, I just love him more. This decision is the hardest decision that I've ever had to make and I wish I didn't have to, but I can't live a lie. No matter how much you think it would be better if I stayed, or that I would stop loving him if I stayed, I wouldn't. I've tried; believe me I've tried so hard. Ronald Billius Weasley, you are an amazing person with a heart of gold and you deserve someone who will love you just as much as you love them, and that person is not me-I don't deserve you. After everything you've done for me all I can say is sorry, sorry that it's not you, sorry that it's him.

Love

Hermione x

P.s. Ginny I love you like a sister and I hope one day you can forgive me for this, I never meant to hurt you and neither did he. X

She placed the note on her pillow, along with her sapphire engagement ring (it was her birth stone and she had loved that Ron would do someting that sweet), and tiptoed back to the door. With one last look she removed the muffliato charm and shut the door. The minute she stepped outside she knew he was there, just as he always was. He took his hand in hers and smiled.

"You ready?" She nodded. She had always been ready for this and now was the time for action. She was sorry that she was leaving, especially since it was the night before her wedding, but she was never supposed to become Mrs. Weasley, she was destined to become Mrs. Potter. Nobody heard the crack.

The next morning Ginny woke up, smiling. The smile quickly faded when she saw Hermione's empty bed and the note that had Ron's name on the front in Hermione's scrawl. When she saw the familiar ring her face paled and her suspicions were confirmed. Shaking her head she quickly got dressed and apperated outside Ron's hotel room.

Knock, Knock; no sound came from within. Ginny tried again but when she still recieved no answer she looked up and down the hall to make sure it was empty before unlocking the door using alohamora. Sticking her head around the door she walked in and saw Ron asleep in his bed.

"Oy, Ron, wake up! Ronald Weasley you wake up right now." Nothing but a small whimper came from the bed. "Ron, Hermione has gone, ok. She's gone." That got his attention because his eyes suddenly flew open and he stared at her like she had sprouted another heads.

"G-gone where?" he finally managed to stammer out. She silently held out the note. His face paled and he sat up before taking it. While Ron was looking at his name she looked around the room for Harry, where could he possibly be?

"H-have you read I-it?" he asked.

"No, I thought you should be the first." She sat down on the bed next to him while he started to open it. While he was reading his face started to get redder and redder until the tips of his ears were almost the same colour as his hair. She could feel the heat radiating off him- if he was a cartoon he would have had steam coming out of his ears.

"What is it?" Ginny asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. He flung the note at her while he stood up and started throwing random items into his suitcase. Her mouth almost hit the floor while she was reading; how could she do this? And then she reached the bit that was meant for her. It didn't take her long to figure out who she had left with. She exploded.

"How DARE she. Harry is mine and she thinks she can have him; well I think I'm going to have to show both of them that messing with me was a mistake!" Ginny was so angry, but she wasn't going to stand around shouting and crying, no she was going to do exactly what Fred and George would have done; Revenge. But first things first, sort out this wedding, or more accurately sort out the now cancelled wedding.

A/N: Hey, so this is my new story- it's a Harry/Hermione with a few little unexpected twists along the way. This will be updated every Saturday and please review! I hope you liked it! :)


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was streaming through the window and Harry tried to turn over but found his arm was trapped. Opening his eyes he peered down and saw a mass of brown, bushy hair and smiled to himself, remembering the events of last night. Well when they had reached here, not the events that happened before hand. He did feel bad for leaving Ginny like that and also that he had betrayed the first friend he had ever had, especially since today was supposed to be there wedding day but life was too short. He was sick of having to tip-toe around just so he could be alone with Hermione, every second counted. He felt movement on his chest and he looked down again to see Hermione starting to stir. He stroked back her hair and her eyes slowly opened.

"Hey sleepyhead," Harry teased, his grin widening as she met his gaze. She really was beautiful.

"Mo-morning," she yawned as she stretched out her arms before curling back up next to Harry. Placing an arm around her he kissed the top of her head before removing himself from the bed. "Where you going?" She asked as she looked up and watched him make his way into the bathroom.

"I've got to go into work," he called through the now shut bathroom door.

"Oh, okay then," she replied and pulled the red duvet closer around her, the pale cream nightgown she was wearing wasn't very warm. The bathroom door opened and Harry walked out, his wet stick sticking to his head and wearing a pair of black pants. He made his way over to draws and started to rummage around for a shirt he could wear.

"You going to be ok in here by yourself?" He asked her as he finally found a white shirt and started to button it up.

"I won't be by myself, I've got Kreacher," she smiled at him before sitting up and placing the pillows upright and resting against them. "What time will you be back though?"

"Shouldn't be too late, I'll be back for dinner," he told her before walking over and kissing her goodbye. "Love you," he muttered before standing up and walking away from the bed.

"Love you too," she told him before waving and with one last look he turned on the spot and disaparated out of there.

The moment he had left Hermione decided she may as well try to get some more sleep, so settling back down under the covers she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to take her away.

It wasn't too long later, maybe a couple of hours when Hermione woke again. She let her eyes adjust to the light before getting out of bed and wrapping her red fluffy dressing gown around her. Her feet barley made a noise as she made her way down to the kitchen and she stopped outside the door for just a minute as she heard Kreacher humming to himself. He had really changed since the war and since Harry, and now her were permanently living in Grimmauld place he was like a new elf. She opened the door and as it squeaked on its hinges Kreacher spun round and bowed low, his long nose almost touching the floor.

"Mistress Hermione, how good to see you again. Would Mistress like Kreacher to make her some breakfast?" Hermione sighed before nodding to the elf, she had tried to tell him that she didn't want to be called Mistress and that she didn't want him to bow too her and he had said he would try but she supposed he was set in his ways. Well it wasn't going to stop her.

"Just some toast please Kreacher and you can call me Hermione," she smiled kidnly at the elf before slipping into a seat at the table.

"Of course Mistress and Kreacher will try his hardest but I am an old elf, not used to such rules," he told her before setting off to make some toast. Looking around the table she spotted the Daily Prophet sitting under a stack of paperwork and pulling it out she gasped as she saw her picture on the front page. Flipping it open she started to read,

_What was dubbed to be the wedding of the year has now been cancelled for some strange, unknown reason. Hermione Granger was all set to marry Ronald Weasley, her partner off 5 years at 11:00 AM today at the Burrow, which is the Weasley's childhood home. Nobody has seen Miss Granger today as she was staying at a hotel just outside of London with Miss Ginerva Weasley but was not there when reporters turned up and her flat has been empty since yesterday evening. Both Mr Ronald Weasley and Miss Ginerva Weasley were seen evacuating the hotel where the groom and his best man, Mr Harry Potter were staying but Mr Harry Potter was not seen leaving. We can confirm that Mr Ronald Weasley looked highly upset but would not say why._

Hermione had to stop reading and she felt sick as she pushed the paper away from her. This was all her fault, she was the one causing Ron pain. She should have just told him the minute she knew she wanted to be with Harry, he deserved better. Feeling the tears welling up inside she pushed back the chair and made her way back upstairs, she suddenly wasn't feeling very hungry anymore. Pulling the dressing gown tighter around her she climbed back into bed and just lay down, trying to forget what she had done.

Time passed by and Hermione had remained face down in bed and that was where she remained when Harry arrived home from work.

"Hermione, where are you?" There was no reply and he started to climb the creaky stairs in search of her. "Hermione, Hermione?" His voice echoed from the high ceilings and he started to panic just a little bit. He pushed open the bedroom door and he was relieved to find her safe on the bed, even if she was crying. "Hey, what's' happened?" He asked as he shook his cloak from his shoulders and sat next to her on the bed.

"I'm a terrible person," she replied numbly, hating herself even more as time went on.

"No you're not, what could you have possibly done to make you think that?" He tried to comfort her as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"The daily prophet," was the only reply he got, but it was enough. He had seen it at work, he had even had people come and ask him what had happened but he had shook them off and told them to mind there own business. Sighing he gently pulled Hermione into a sitting position and cuddled her close before planting a kiss on the top of her head.

"Look, you don't need to worry. It's not your fault, okay. Anyway things can only get better and Ron wont stay mad at you for long, I don't even think he's mad at you now. He'll take his anger out on me but he'll move on, as will Ginny." She wiped her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder. He kicked off his shoes and moved them so that he was leaning against the headboard. Hermione yawned and as she closed her eyes she felt Harry kiss her head. This was her choice, her life and she was going to start living it.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Hey! So I'm updating now because I wont have internet access for the weekend so I figured you can have the chapter earlier rather then later! Hope you enjoy! :)

Hermione hadn't left the house in two weeks due to the fact that she had a holiday from work because it should have been her honeymoon. If she was totally honest she was also avoiding the ministry and she wasn't looking forward to going in. The ministry meant people and people meant questions, questions she didn't want to answer. There was also the small matter of Ron working there and according to Harry he had returned to work a few days ago and had given Harry the cold shoulder. Neither one of them blamed him of course, he had every right to ignore them but she knew Ron and she knew he had a temper. It was unusual that he hadn't said anything, nothing at all and she didn't want to be there when he did finally lose his temper.

"You still worrying about him?" Harry's voice interrupted her train of thoughts from where he was lying on the bed and she ducked her head, he knew her so well. "Don't worry, he won't do anything at work," he tried to calm her down but it wasn't working.

"Maybe," she muttered and went back to picking out some clothes for the next day. He shook his head and sighed, she really didn't need to worry.

"Just get some sleep, you'll be fine in the morning," he called out and she nodded before closing the wardrobe and going to join him. Cuddling into him it wasn't long before she could hear his steady breathing and knew that he was asleep. It took much longer before she dropped off.

Morning came much to fast for Hermione's liking and as she got dressed she tried to calm down, Harry had been to work and he had just ignored him, why shouldn't he just ignore her? They didn't even work in the same department, he worked in the Auror department and she worked a few floors below him for the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She might not even see him.

"You ready love?" Harry called as his head appeared around the bedroom door. She took one last look in the mirror before making her way towards him and following him down the stairs.

"You go first, don't wait for me either. I'll just see you tonight, ok?" Harry frowned slightly but only shrugged before kissing her, no point upsetting her when she was already nervous.

"Bye," he called out before stepping into the fireplace and disappearing in a whoosh of green flames. Hermione took one last look around the living room before steeping into the fireplace and following Harry.

The Ministry hadn't changed and as she made her way towards the lift she started to relax. By the time she had reached her office she was feeling a lot calmer, nobody had stopped her and asked questions and she hadn't seen Ron either.

"Morning Alice," she waved to a small blonde who was sat outside Hermione's office, she was Hermione's assistant and she worked incredibly hard.

"Morning, how was your holiday?" She smiled but before Hermione could answer she continued talking, "I have a few letters here for you and the case against Mr Arnott has been rescheduled to next Monday."

"The holiday was ok and thanks, I'll make a note but what time will it be?" Hermione asked while holding her hands out for the letters.

"10:30 am," Alice smiled before leaving Hermione alone in her office. Sitting in her chair she looked around and then opened the letters. None of them were very interesting, they were all to d with previous cases she had worked on and weather the desired effects had actually taken place. Only one hadn't so she made a mental note to try and fix it. The last letter was different to the others, it was thinner for a start but there was something about it that looked different. Looking at the name more closely she saw it said Mr Weasley and the address was the Burrow.

"Alice," she shouted and the blonde came running in.

"Yes?"

"When did you get the letter?" She asked holding up the envelope so that Alice could see.

"About a week ago, maybe slightly longer,. Mr Weasley came by and told me to give it to you, is there a problem?"

"No, no problem. Thank you Alice, that's all." She nodded and Alice walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Opening the letter up she started to read it.

_Dear Mr Weasley, _

_Thank you for booking your wedding with us and we are sorry to here about the cancellation however we still have a problem. The bill currently stood at £150 after you paid off most of it but since you cancelled it we have had to add some extra charges so the bill now stands at £275. We would be grateful if you would get in touch with us sometime soon so we can talk about a payment method. _

_Yours sincerely, _

_Hilltop Park_

So Ron wanted her to pay, that was fine. It was her fault anyway and she had left him to cancel it, tell all there family and friends. There was a phone number on the bottom of the letter and Hermione figured she needed to ring it as soon as possible. Walking out of her office, the letter in her hand she told Alice she'd be back in about half an hour and then left the ministry via the visitors entrance. Walking around London she kept her eyes peeled for a phone box and she hadn't walked very far when she spotted one. Walking inside she called the number and waited.

"Hello, Hilltop Park, may name is Jenny and how may I help you?" A too cheery voice answered.

"Hi, It's Miss Granger here calling up about working out a payment method," she told the women.

"Miss Granger," the women repeated slowly before continuing. "Ah, yes here we are. So you have a balance of £275, how would you like to pay?"

"I'll pay all at once if you don't mind, shall I just bring it in?"

"That's fine and yes, just bring it down in an envelope with your name on,"

"Ok, great thanks bye," she told the women and hung up before Jenny could reply. Walking out of the phone booth she sighed before making her way back towards the visitors entrance. It would have been nice to go home now, just sleep. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you looked at it, Hermione had Mr Arnott's case to fix and work on for the rest of the day. At least sh'd be in her office.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hermione? It's six so I'm going too be going now, I'll see you tomorrow," Alice announced as she stuck her head around my door and I nodded and waved as she left. I should probably be going too, I didn't normally leave until about eight but I hadn't left my office all day and I was hungry. Piling the paperwork up in order so I would know what to do tomorrow I walked out of my office and headed towards the elevators. One was just closing so I sprinted forward and dived inside, how I wish I hadn't! As I stood up and looked around I almost died right there and then. There stood Ron, just watching me an odd expression on his face. I just ducked my head and prayed that the elevator would go faster. I could barely breath, I was so still just trying not do draw attention to myself.

"Why?" His voice cut through the tension although it was barely louder the a whisper and I could easily hear the hurt in hit. I felt so guilty and I thought I was going to burst in tears but I managed to turn around and face him.

"I-I had to Ron, I'm s-sorry. It wouldn't have been f-fair to either of us and I didn't want t-to fall for him," I managed to get out, my voice breaking and I could have sworn Ron's face soften a little. He never replied and the elevator doors opened on the atrium and I made a mad dash out, not looking behind me to check if he followed me. Half running to the fireplace I practically jumped inside and sped to Grimmauld place as fast as I could. Thankfully Harry wasn't home yet as he was still at work so I decided to distract myself by taking a hot bath while Kreacher was cooking dinner. I could smell it from the living room but first I needed chocolate.

"Hey Kreacher," I called out as I walked into the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge.

"Mistress Hermione, is there anything Kreacher can do for you?" Out the corner of my eye I saw him move and I knew he had bowed.

"Hermione, and no thank you. When will dinner be ready?" I asked as I picked up the bar of chocolate and walked towards Kreacher.

"In about an hour Miss, Kreacher has made pa..." I didn't hear what Kreacher had made because when I had sniffed up a vile smell had met my nostrils and leaving a surprised looking Kreacher I took the stairs two at a time and only just made it to the bathroom in time. When I was finished I sat up and leaned my head against the bath, it was nice and cold. Once the nausea had passed I felt fine, didn't even feel ill. Strange. Pulling myself to my feet and made my way to my bedroom and decided to lie down for a while, I felt oddly tired.

I didn't know what time it was when I opened my eyes but the room was a lit up by a dim glow and I felt someone lying next to me, looked like I had slept straight through dinner. When I turned around I saw Harry next to me so careful not to disturb him I got out of bed and made my way into the bathroom for a shower. At least I wasn't feeling sick which was a plus although me being sick yesterday had been just plain weird. Maybe it was stress? The shower felt nice and when I walked back into the bedroom I saw Harry was awake.

"Hermione? What on earth are you doing showering at this time in the morning?" Harry croaked, his eyes barley open as he sat up and looked at me.

"Morning?" I was confused, I thought it was night time. I couldn't have possibly slept right through could I?

"It's 5:30 in the morning, come back to bed," he told me before lying back down. I guess I could but I had never slept that long before and I was still tired. Was I ill? I joined Harry but even though I was tired I couldn't sleep, my mind was going through different illnesses and trying to match one to me. What had the symptoms nausea and vomiting? Cold, no. Normal sickness would but I didn't feel sick all the times, only yesterday. Maybe I was reading too much into it, possibly. Just as I was about to drift off again one word floated into my mind; pregnancy. I shook my head, not possible me and Harry hadn't done anything mainly because we didn't want that on our conscience when we were sneaking about. Impossible.

Ron? That same voice pipped up and I bit my lip before dismissing it. There was no way I, Hermione Jean Granger could be pregnant. I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep with that floating around my head so I silently got out of bed and tiptoed over to the chest of drawers. I would prove that I wasn't pregnant. Pulling out my little blue diary that I used to keep track off everyone's birthdays and my period I found today's date, the 2nd of September and flipped backwards looking for the little red dot meaning that I was on my period. August was clear and as I got into July I started to panic. Could I actually be pregnant? I found a dot mid-June but nothing after that, and when I tried to remember the last time me and Ron had been together it was near the end of June. Working forwards I figured I was about 2 months gone, no I wasn't pregnant. Putting the diary back I tried to come up with another reason but failed miserably. I needed a test. Walking downstairs I walked over to the bookcase and looked for the correct book, _Spells and potions for injuries and medical conditions._ Finally I managed to locate it and pulling it out I walked over to the settee and sat down before opening the book at the index. My finger trailed the page and when it landed on 'P' I looked up Pregnancy; page 134. Flipping through the book to the right page my eyes easily found what I was looking for.

"Potion to determine weather you are pregnant or not," I read to myself and stood up with the book and headed into the kitchen. It didn't look very complicated or long either so I set about finding the ingredients and making the potion. Some twenty minutes later it was the pale purple colour that was described in the book so removing a piece of my hair I threw it in and watched as the potion bubbled and turned a dark red. Hesitantly my gaze fell over to the book as I looked at the results part, Yellow means you're not pregnant and red means you are. Any other colour means you have did it wrong.

Blast!

I was pregnant with my ex and I was now dating his best friend, well used to be best friend. What did I ever do to deserve this? With a sigh I tipped the potion down the sink and set about cleaning up before Harry woke up. What a start to the day!


	5. Chapter 5

Harry came downstairs about an hour after I had cleaned up and I was sitting in the living room reading. I wasn't really in the mood but I had needed something to take my mind off it, although it hadn't really worked. My eyes had glazed over the words and my hands had turned the pages without me even being aware of it. The familiar movements had slightly calmed me down although my brain hadn't stopped thinking about it. A baby, an actual baby was inside me. I wasn't angry, there wasn't a reason for me to be angry. Sad? A little. Happy? Slightly. Had this been normal circumstances, had I married Ron in the summer I would have been over the moon, still worried but it would have been a nice feeling. Now I had something else to think about, more people to tell, actually it wasn't because I would have told Harry and Ron anyway, now it was telling them in different situations and that was one thing I wasn't looking forward to.

"Hey babe," Harry smiled at me and I returned it before he wandered off into the kitchen, probably looking for Kreacher. Would he leave me when I told him? What if Ron wanted to be involved, would Harry decide it was too awkward for him? I shook my head, I was being stupid. Everything would be fine, I'd tell Harry and Ron as soon as possible, Ron first. Suddenly the smell of bacon wafted under my nose and my stomach rumbled. With a small smile dancing on my lips I walked into the kitchen and saw Harry sat at the table, Kreacher cooking.

"Smells good Kreacher, would you be able to make me some?" I asked, sliding into the seat opposite Harry.

"Of course Mistress, that is what Kreacher is here for," he replied before rushing off to get more bacon. When Kreacher set a bacon sandwich in front of Harry he looked up from the paper and pushed it towards me.

"I'll have the next one Kreacher," he told the elf who bowed before going back to the stove. "I'm going to be late in tonight, I'm visiting Teddy," he told me, folding up the paper and putting it on the end of the table.

"Oh, ok. What time will you be back?"

"About eight or so, after I put him too bed." I nodded and Kreacher placed a sandwich in front of Harry. Finishing off our breakfast in silence I was the first to stand and headed off to the bathroom to get ready. It never took me long but today I couldn't help but stare at the mirror, at my stomach. There was actually a person in there, I couldn't get my head round it. I knew I should be slightly scared but I wasn't. Maybe I was somewhere but it hadn't hit me yet. I was a 21 year old who was pregnant with my ex and was dating his ex best friend, that didn't bother me. I knew I was keeping it, I couldn't get rid off it. I didn't have it in me to kill an innocent life and there was no reason I needed to. I was an adult, with a job that paid fairly well and I had savings, I could do this. Quickly pulling my shirt over my stomach as the door opened I took one last look in the mirror and followed Harry into the living room.

"She you when you get back," I told him before kissing him goodbye. With one last wave he vanished in a puff of green smoke and I followed. The atrium was full of people hurrying about when I arrived and I wandered through them up to my office.

"Hermione, the Minister would like to see you in his office straight away," Alice announced when I came into view.

"Oh, ok would you just throw this on my desk then, thanks. Do you know why?" I asked handing her my coat but she shook her head. Turning on my heal I made my way back towards the lifts I had just exited and climbed back in. Heading to floor one I couldn't help but wonder why the Minister wanted to see me. Stepping out onto the purple carpeted floor I couldn't help but marvel at this level. I had been here on numerous occasions but each time the beauty of it still managed to take me breath away. Walking over to the wooden door, the silver plaque gleaming with the words _'Minister for magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt.' _Knocking on the door I listened for a second before the deep, calm voice of the Minister called out.

"Enter." Pushing open the door he looked up before offering me a smile and pushing some papers aside. "Ahh, Miss Granger. Perfect timing, I've got some news for you. Take a seat," he gestured to the chair in front of his desk and I slid in. "Well, I've just been contacted by the Domus Dryadalis committee, apparently you contacted them asking for a few changes,

"Yeah, I did but I never expected a reply," I honestly couldn't believe it, the Domus Dryadalis committee were the most important thing concerning house elf's and there right and I had contacted them a while ago but I hadn't expected anything to come off it.

"Well, you've got one. They want a meeting with you in a few weeks to hear your aims and plans in detail. You're going to have to do a presentation for them, but I'm sure you'll be fine?"

"I, yeah, yeah that's amazing. Oh, wow thank you!" I could hardly get my words out, this was amazing. I might actually change the laws, I could make house elf's lives better.

"No problem, just don't let me down, I want your full attention on this and I'll get back to you when there is a definite date set." I nodded and stood up before managing to walk out of his office, I could barley contain my excitement. I wanted to run, scream, nothing could burst my bubble.

Then I entered the lift.

"This is becoming almost like a bad habit," Ron spoke up as I walked in but I ignored him, I was in too much of a good mood. Then I remembered the baby, and I sneaked a side glance at Ron. He was looking at the door, his expression neutral.

"Ron?" He looked at me but didn't talk so I continued. "We need to talk?" His eyebrows shot up in surprise before his expression became hidden again.

"Why? I've got nothing to say to you," he replied but I wasn't that easily deterred.

"Well I need to talk to you," I told him, but then I softened my tone. It wasn't his fault I'd left him on the eve of our wedding for his best mate. "Please, Ron It's really important. Come to Grimmauld place for about six, please?" He nodded before walking out of the lift, he didn't even look back. That had dimmed my excitement a little but I was still amazed that I had the chance, so practically running to my office I started to get to work.


End file.
